Teachers Mocked Students With Disabilities, Mom Of One Of The Students Is Heartbroken

A mom in Texas was devastated to learn that her son’s teachers mocked students with disabilities, and made her son one of their main targets. The teachers were overheard having a conversation about the students at a restaurant. A patron took their pictures and described the incident on Facebook. Angela Hartfelder, whose 10-year old son has dyslexia, ADHD, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and two types of dysgraphia, recognized the women as her son’s teachers. When she read the post, she was heartbroken to learn they were talking about her son.

The teachers mocked students with disabilities in public, within earshot of other diners.

A Facebook user by the name of Jason Goodlife overheard their conversation. He took pictures of the women, and then wrote a post describing some of the awful things they were saying. As a parent, this is absolutely horrifying. We hope that the professional educators we send our kids off to everyday have the same love and compassion for them as we do. In this case, these 5 teachers should not be allowed near children at all.

In the post, Jason says he overheard them making fun of their students. They also disparaged parents, including Angela.

Image: Facebook/Angela Hartfelder

The women read text messages from parents to each other. They mocked students with disabilities, asking what would happen when one went on a killing spree in 20 years. They laughed about it.

Angela says she saw the post on Facebook and was about to scroll on by, and then she recognized the women as her son’s teachers. She told the Globe-News, “As I was reading the post, my heart just sank with every line.” Angela describes her son as “happy-go-lucky”, and says she and her husband have worked hard to help get him to where he is today. They work with him physically to assist with his Ehlers-Danos. They’ve also brought on outside tutors to help with his other learning disabilities. The fact that the teachers mocked students with disabilities like her son, even knowing how hard they’ve worked, is disgusting.

“My husband and I feel like we cannot trust them with our child,” she told Globe-News. Angela shared her reaction to the original Facebook post on her own page.

5 employees have been placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation. The district also released a statement addressing the issue: “Upon learning of the social media postings last week, AISD began an internal investigation into the allegations. Our district has clear expectations of professionalism from our staff. We hold our employees to the highest standards for confidentially of student information and appreciate our parents who partner with us in the education of their students. Because this matter concerns students and district personnel, we cannot release further information.” Our hearts go out to the Hartfelders. Hopefully these teachers face some very real consequences for their despicable actions.